


Playing by the Rules

by PattRose



Series: The Rules Series [3]
Category: Battle Creek (TV)
Genre: Angst and Humor, First Kiss, M/M, Slash, Talk of sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-08
Updated: 2015-06-08
Packaged: 2018-04-03 13:21:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4102507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PattRose/pseuds/PattRose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Milt isn’t quite cooperating as everyone thought he would.  Russ helps.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Playing by the Rules

Playing by the Rules  
By PattRose  
Summary: Milt isn’t quite cooperating as everyone thought he would. 

 

Milt had been seeing the shrink seven times and he was fighting her tooth and nail. He came home and took all of his anger out on Russ and Russ was letting him for now. But Russ knew that it was almost time for him to say something to Milt. This couldn’t keep going on. Milt was never going to get better at this rate. Russ wondered if that’s what Milt might want. Maybe he didn’t think he deserved to get better. Wasn’t that fucking shrink doing any good? Russ questioned her abilities. 

On the eighth visit, Milt walked into the house full of anger as usual and glared at Russ. Russ figured today was the day. He wasn’t taking any of Milt’s bullshit.

“So what’s the deal, Milt? Are you going to wait until the psychiatrist doesn’t let you go back to work? Is that the plan?”

Milt continued to glare at Russ. “Not that it’s any of your business, but she’s thinking about releasing me soon.”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me, right?” Russ couldn’t believe his ears. 

“Why are you so shocked? I’m playing by the rules, just like you told me to, Russ.”

“You’re fucking conning her. I know a con when I see one, believe me. Who would know better than me?”

Milt had the decency to blush. Of course Russ was right, but Milt thought he was on top of things. He had been wrong. “I’m sorry I’ve been such a bear.”

“A bear? A bear would be a nice version of you in the last two weeks. You’re being an asshole. And I decided that maybe you don’t want me around you.”

“I sort of thought we might work on a relationship. This is what you led me to believe anyhow.” Milt looked confused. 

“Milt, just tell me. Do you fucking want me around or not? It’s not going to hurt my feelings. I get the impression that you can’t get away from me soon enough.”

Russ was not expecting what happened next. Milt walked over and pulled Russ into his arms and held on for dear life. “I do want you in my life. I do want you around. I think it’s too soon to be released and maybe I should get a new therapist.”

“You think?” Russ teased and then pulled Milt down for a soft kiss. It was their first kiss, on the lips anyhow, and it was just how both of them had imagined.   
Russ pulled away from Milt and said, “Find a new therapist and get your appointments made. You can take me to work in the morning and we’ll see how you do without me during the day. I might have been crowding you.”

It was Milt’s turn to smile. “Maybe just a little bit. I liked the attention, but I’d rather go out to eat tonight and then talk about sleeping together.”

“Whoa! Back up. We don’t want to jump into anything when you’re in a fragile frame of mind. Understood?”

“You don’t want to sleep with me?” Milt looked like a child with his feelings hurt. 

“As a matter of fact, I want to fuck your brains out. But I’m afraid that we might be rushing into things. Talk to a new therapist and see what he or she thinks. Okay?”

Milt kissed Russ once again and said, “I can’t wait. Maybe this therapist is okay. I’ve been lying to myself and to you. I’m sorry. I’ll tell her truthfully how I feel about things tomorrow and we’ll see what she says. I promise, I’ll do better.”

Russ kissed Milt once more and hugged him tight. “You’re doing great, Milt. I really like having you here at my house. It’s nice sharing space with you.”

“But seriously, I’m lonely in bed at night.”

“That’s what your hand is for, Milt.”

“Russ, not everything is about sex. I’m lonely for someone to hold me at night and just having someone close. And to make it a little more clear, by someone I mean you.”

“All right, here is the deal. We sleep in the same bed, but no sex until the therapist thinks we’re ready.”

“I think I can live with that, Russ. Thank you.”

“I might snore,” Russ replied. 

“So might I. We’ll find out, I guess.”

*  
They found out that neither man snored nor woke each other up. They both had the best night’s sleep in ages. 

*  
Russ went back to work and was thrilled. Well, all except for the fact that Font was driving since Milt had Russ’s car. And Font wasn’t as good a driver as Russ was. But all in all, it worked out pretty well. He took Holly to lunch and told her about him and Milt and she seemed to be not so surprised. She said everyone saw it coming. Russ was glad that Holly took it well and they could remain friends. 

*  
Three weeks later, Russ was doing well at work and Milt came to the station. 

“Font, could I talk to you please?” Milt asked. 

“You don’t have to apologize to me again, Milt. I know you were feeling guilty and that was part of that.”

“Are we good?” Milt wondered. 

“Did you get released?” Font asked. 

“I start tomorrow morning. Did anyone miss me?”

“They sent a jerk. He’s an ass too. We all just stay away from him and let him brood. Do you know him? His name is Michael Wilson.”

“Yeah, he is an ass. And a jerk, too.” Both men laughed. “Well, I’ll be there in the morning, so then you all have to deal with me.”

“You’re much better to deal with then he was.”

“Good, glad to hear it. I need to talk to the commander and let her know that I’m coming back tomorrow.”

Milt walked off and knocked on Kim’s door and heard, “Come in.”

He opened the door, poked his head in and said, “I’ll be back on duty tomorrow. Just letting you know. A warning of sorts.”

“Come in for a moment. I have something to ask you.”

Milt walked in and stood in front of her desk expecting something horrible. 

“I know you don’t have a car right now and my neighbor is selling a really nice truck. I thought you might be interested in buying it. It’s fairly new, but his wife got cancer and he can’t make the payments. He just needs someone to take the payments over or pay it off. What do you think of that?” Kim asked. 

“What color is the truck?” Milt asked, smiling. 

“It’s black with dark gray interior. Very nice. It’s a Ford F-150, American made. I thought you might like that.”

“I’ll take it. Could we come over tonight and take a look?”

“He said to come over at any time. Take Russ now and he can drive and you can buy it and drive it home.”

“What will the man drive?” Milt asked. 

Kim stared at him and realized he was back to the caring and kind man he had been. 

“His wife has a car that’s paid off. So, he’ll drive that.” She wrote down the address and handed it to Milt. 

“Thank you, Kim. I appreciate the help.”

“Good, now grab Russ and get out of here. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Milt went and told Russ he had the rest of the day off and Russ seemed pleased. Russ drove them over to the house next to Kim’s and they saw the beautiful pickup in the driveway. 

“Oh yeah, that screams, you,” Russ kidded. 

“It does, I even heard it. Now let’s go and buy this truck.”

“Did you get released?” Russ asked. 

“Yup for both things.”

Russ looked confused. “Both things?”

“Work and sex. She told me I was ready.”

Russ pulled him in for a quick kiss before they got out of the car. “I like this type of news on a busy day. But, no sex until we’ve dated a while. I want dancing, eating out and just talking first. I want us to go slow.”

“What happened to the Russ that wanted to fuck my brains out?”

“He’s inside saying, ‘go for it’, but I’m not listening.” Both men laughed as they got out of the car. 

*

Once home, Russ waited for Milt. After about a half hour, Milt came walking in carrying a plant and Chinese food. Russ notice he also had a CD in his hand. 

“What are you doing with all of this?”

“Read the card on the plant,” Milt said. 

Russ opened up the card and smiled. It said, _To the man I’m falling in love with. First we eat, then we dance and then we sleep. And yes, that does mean fuck. Love, Milt_

Russ pulled him down and gave him a much needed kiss. And they were off. 

TBC


End file.
